


In A Better World

by sleepyytime



Category: The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Explicit Language, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Smut, Period-Typical Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:40:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29500089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepyytime/pseuds/sleepyytime
Summary: Steve is hopelessly pining for Sodapop,,, damn :/ gl Steve
Relationships: Sodapop Curtis/Steve Randle
Kudos: 8





	In A Better World

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! This is going to be my first posted fanfiction, please submit to me more ships/ideas I should do! I love writing and want to have a place to post writing I do.
> 
> If you have a ship, prompt, or fic I should write about, please comment and I will try and do it!
> 
> Fandoms I'm in/used to be in if you want me to write about those:  
> -MCU!  
> \- Stranger things  
> -IT  
> \- Harry Potter!  
> \- Voltron  
> \- HXH  
> \- Sherlock Holmes (BBC)  
> \- Lucifer
> 
> I will not do incest or pedophilic ships!!

Steve Randle was running as fast as he could. His lungs were burning and he could feel his legs longing to collapse to the floor. At this point, he was sure that he had long out-ran the socs, but he didn't want to risk stopping until he reached the Curtis' house. His head was pouding and he could feel the scarlet liquid run down his head and dry against the skin on his forehead. When he finally turned onto the street where the Curtis boys lived, he felt as though as he could cough up blood. The setting sun at the end of the street was blinding, making his head ache feel even worse.

As he reached the front porch of the brothers' house, he collapsed onto the floor, heaving with labored and painful breathes. "God, how does Pony run for a sport, that's ridiculous" Steve thought to himself as the pain in his lungs began to burn even worse. Without getting up, the young greaser knocked lazily onto the door hoping someone would answer it for him. To his satisfaction, it was his best friend, Sodapop Curtis, who opened the door.

"Holy shit Steve, what happened?" Sodapop squatted down next to his friend, his eyebrows knit in concern and his eyes wide. He took a moment to survey Steve, taking a good look at all his injuries, while the other boy just stared at him with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"You like it? I look tuff, black eyes are back in style."

"That ain't even funny, Steve, you got roughed up real good, get inside."

Soda dragged Steve up onto his feet and pulled him by the arm into their living room, forcing him down onto the couch and going to grab a first aid kit. Although Steve would never admit it, he found it quite endearing when his best friend put on his "mom" act, it really showed how much of a caring person he was. 

"Now, you gon' tell me what happened?" Sodapop insisted, in a tone that implied Steve had no choice except telling him what happened. However, there was no trace of annoyance or irritation with his friend, only concern. He sat down in front of Steve, getting what he needed out, and waiting patiently for an answer.

"Socs, man, they suck. I was just minding my own business and they came talking shit up in my face and I just snapped at 'em. I didn't start the fight, but I guess giving them a little word back was too much for their egos to handle and they got real mad. They threw a few hard punches and once I saw a blade, I ran." Steve explained, his tone slowly turning more serious. He averted his eyes from Soda as his friend leaned in, the close proximity making Steve slightly uneasy.

"how many were there?" Soda asked, paying close attention the cut on Steve's forehead.

"About four, maybe I was being a bit dumb for stirring 'em up." Steve's eyes ended up landing on Soda's face. Then, as was the case many times before, he got lost in his best friends face. The way his eyes were dialed in on his current task like nothing else was there was something Steve found almost adorable. Maybe it was even a bit distracting when Soda got so focused that his lips parted slightly, and maybe it was enough to make Steve's chest tighten up and his face go red. It wasn't a feeling he liked, either. It was one of those times he wished it was okay to cry, because the fact that he found Soda this attractive made him want to curl up and sob.

Trying to distract himself, Steve sparked up another conversation, "where's Superman and Pony?"

"Pony's hanging with Johnny and Dal', and Darrys' still at work" Soda answered, the atmosphere becoming less heavy with the switch of topic. Instead of responding, however, Steve seemed to have forgotten that anyone was talking as he found himself staring at Soda again.

"You alright there?" Soda smirked. He placed his hand underneath Steve's chin to clean up the teen's busted lip. For some reason, Steve no longer knew the english language. He scrunched his face as if he was working on a hard math problem and continued to stare at Soda.

At this point, Soda decided to pull back and look at Steve, once again looking concerned, "Steve?"

"Yeah, huh, sorry, I'm just- I don't know, sorry" Steve stammered out, his face going red as he looked around himself and away from Sodapop.

"Well that ain't real reassuring," Soda gave him a worried smile, "you know you can tell me if somethings' upsettin' ya?"

Although Steve noded, he was far from convinced that was true.Sodapop was his best friend, and he truly did tell him pretty much everything, but this was one of those times that it was something you have to bury inside yourself for no one to see. Steve never liked to think to much on it, but the more time he spent with his best friend, the less attractive women became to him. When Soda was in the room, he couldn't see a cute girl if she had been flashing him two feet away. He sure as hell wasn't going to let himself be a fairy, either. Even if he was one, it was something Soda would never hear about.

"I know you got somethin' to say, but you don't have to if you don't want to" Soda paused for a second, looking hopefully up at Steve, but the other boy remained silent, "okay then, well, this ain't real tuff, but I'm gonna' give ya a hug" Soda laughed and wrapped his arm around Steve's shoulders, lying his chin on his shoulder. If it were anyone else, or any other situation, Steve would have been grateful, but this was probably the worst case for a hug. Despite this, however, Steve wrapped his arms around Soda and gave him a tight hug and faced the ceiling. Steve, for the first time in a while, let himself cry. It was in this moment that he realised his feelings were so much worse than a small crush, and he was deep in love with this handsome blonde. Steve let himself imagine a world where things were different and he could marry Sodapop and hold his hand in the movies and makeout with him in cars under the moonlight. He let himself imagine a world where Soda liked him back and the world was a better place. He stayed in that hug and let himself bask in the feeling of Soda, promising himself it was the last time he would let this happen. The hug ended after what felt like forever but also not enough, and Steve collapsed further down onto the couch.

"I need a nap" Steve stated, and he rolled over to bury his face into the couch.

Soda ran his hand through Steve's hair once before whispering an "okay" and leaving his friend alone. 

Sodapop never asked about that day again, nor pry for answers. They moved on as if it never happened.


End file.
